Homeowners are increasingly choosing to add battery storage to their solar power installation. When considering solar battery storage, you will always come down to the question: Should I choose a lead-acid battery or a lithium-ion battery? After all, these are the two most popular home storage batteries available in the market, and here is everything you need to know to make a decision.
Understanding the Characteristics of Each Battery
Lead acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries use different electrochemical processes to store electric charge and produce electrons.
Lead-Acid Batteries
Inside a lead-acid battery, a lead rod is submerged in a sulphuric acid solution. The controlled chemical reaction allows the battery to produce electricity, and the reversal of the reaction recharges it.
Lithium-Ion Batteries
The relatively advanced battery uses the movement of lithium in an electrolyte solution. The ions move between an anode and a cathode to produce electricity. The small size of the Lithium-ion allows Li-ion batteries to store high charge per unit mass and deliver high voltage.
Weighing the Pros & Cons
Battery Capacity
Lithium-ion batteries are proven to have a higher battery capacity than lead-acid batteries. This means that a lithium-ion battery will store more energy than a lead-acid battery of the same size. The battery capacity can vary from one manufacturer to the next for lithium-ion batteries.
Battery Efficiency
Like solar power efficiency, battery efficiency is an important metric to consider when choosing a battery. Most popular lithium-ion batteries like Tesla Powerwall and Enphase offer high efficiency of over 95%. On the other hand, lead-acid batteries only offer 80-85% battery efficiency.
Battery Cost
A lead-acid battery is highly economical although there are virtually none available on the market because of how inefficient they are compared to lithium. Lithium-ion batteries can start selling for $10,000, and the price will go up depending on the system size and type of installation you choose. A lead-acid battery delivering similar power costs hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars less, but will power only a fraction of a lithium-ion
Battery Life
As batteries age, they lose efficiency and degrade. Solar batteries charge, discharge, and then recharge. A lithium-ion battery can go through more charge-discharge cycles than lead-acid batteries. Hence, they offer a longer life span. Learn more about the Enphase Encharge battery on our site. Don’t forget to stop by our Plantinum+ page as well for even more great information on how green Power Energy offers industry-leading technology bundled to save.
What’s the Verdict?
Lithium-ion batteries clearly deliver more than lead-acid batteries. They only score below lead-acid batteries in a cost comparison. However, the longer lifespan also offsets the higher initial cost attached to lithium-ion batteries, which keeps them price competitive.
Big brands like Tesla and Enphase make modern lithium-ion batteries that are becoming more efficient, cost-effective, and compact with time. We would be happy to discuss this and more with you, so please don’t hesitate to Contact Green Power Energy today for more information.
